Player of the Week (Apr. 4): Five point games are pretty noticeable, even if your team loses anyway. Such was the case for Worcester's Jochen Hecht, who had a hat trick and a pair of assists for the IceCats Mar. 31 against Philadelphia but still found himself on the wrong end of an 8-7 score. Hecht also had a pair of points against Springfield for seven points in three games. Hecht is leading the IceCats in goals, assists and points.

Player of the Week (Apr. 11): The Rochester Americans are built on defense, but they're pretty darn good with that offensive stuff too. Especially Mike Harder, who scored seven goals in one week and added a couple assists to be deemed the week's best player. Harder picked up his nine points in five games, four of which the Amerks won and they tied the fifth. He also became the Amerks' third 30-goal man and is now eighth on the overall AHL scoring list.

Goaltender of the Month (Mar.): Brian Boucher missed the first half of March recovering from knee surgery, but he got into nine games for the Phantoms in the latter half and went 7-2-0-0 with a 2.32 GAA and a .919 save percentage. That was good enough for the award, as Boucher recorded a shutout and hadn't lost in his last six games. For that matter, Boucher has only lost three games, two in overtime, since the All-Star break.

Aaron Asham by Meredith Martini

Rookie of the Month (Mar.): The Fredericton Canadiens are not long for New Brunswick, but at least one player made sure Fredericton got a good show at the end. Aaron Asham picked up 13 points in the baby Habs' ten games and was named the best young 'un for the month by the AHL. Asham had three three-point games during the month, and finished with a +5 rating. He had a four game goal scoring streak alive at the time of the award.

Turning Turnstiles: The AHL set a new attendance mark, topping the one set just last season, as 4,149,750 people showed up for AHL games. The second, third and fourth highest attendance records all fell this year, and Philadelphia, Rochester, Hartford and Cincinnati posted franchise highs. The Phantoms set new records for both overall and average AHL attendance for a season with 480,106 total and 12,002 average. Overall, AHL attendance is up 61% from the 92-93 season.

The Phantoms tied the AHL record for shorthanded goals in a season, scoring 26 of them...

The Providence Bruins posted the all-time best turnaround when they surpassed last season's point total by 63 points. No team in AHL history had made such an improvement from one season to the next...

OK, I'm not saying that Adirondack and Syracuse stink, but - there are three teams in the AHL (Providence, Rochester, and Philadelphia) who have more points than the Red Wings and the Crunch combined...

The attendance wasn't the only AHL mark over four million. The AHL's web site recorded over four million hits...

Hartford's Brad Smyth has appeared in 30 games for the WolfPack and scored the first goal of the game in nine of them...

Joel Kwiatkowski by Meredith Martini

The best of the baby blueline goalscorers is Cincinnati's Joel Kwiatkowski, with 12 goals...

Despite missing numerous games for family tragedies and a rough beginning in Lowell, Hershey's Mike Gaul stands second in defense scoring...

The Albany River Rats are 31-1-1 if they allow two goals or fewer...

The Hamilton Bulldogs are finishing at the top in penalty killing with an 87.43% kill rate...

Hamilton's Steve Passmore ranks second in goals against average (2.18), minutes played (2969), saves (1470) and save percentage (.932)...

Syracuse has used a franchise record six different goaltenders this season. Saint John is not sympathetic, having used 11 last season...

Rochester put Kentucky in its place Apr. 6 as Mike Harder scored two and assisted on a third goal for the Amerks in their 3-1 win...

Two AHL teams wound up without a radio announcer the same week. Rochester did without Don Stevens, who was absent for his father-in-law's funeral, and Worcester is without Greg Madden, indefinitely on personal leave...

Marc Rodgers by Meredith Martini

The Iron Men are: Cincinnati's Joel Kwiatkowski, Adirondack's Marc Rodgers, Lowell's Dane Jackson, New Haven's Scott Levins, Rochester's Matt Davidson, and St. John's Kevyn Adams and Aaron Brand...

Six other players made it to April as iron men but didn't quite finish. Hershey's Brian Willsie suffered an eye injury, Syracuse's Larry Courville broke his thumb, Albany's Eric Bertrand was suspended for one game, Kentucky's Matt Bradley was given a night off and Kentucky's Herbert Vasiljevs and Cincinnati's Scott Ferguson made their NHL debuts...

Alexander Semak had three points and John Madden pulled his points streak up to 11 games as Albany smacked rivals Adirondack 7-3 on Apr. 7...

If you're going to stop the Phantoms, stop them cold. Marc Denis picked up a 41 save shutout against Philadelphia Apr. 7, as the Bears won 3-0...

Remember that Rochester/Syracuse game that was suspended due to bad ice? They finally finished the game Apr. 7. The Crunch started with a lead and were up 3-1 in the third before allowing the Amerks back in. Dean Sylvester scored in OT to give the Amerks a 5-4 win...

That was Sylvester's tenth game-winner of the season, leading the AHL and setting a new franchise record for the Americans...

Syracuse is a sorry mess, but now they're a sorry mess with a couple of champions. Marcus Gustafsson, fresh from scoring the game-winning goal for Maine in the NCAA championship, joined the Crunch Apr. 9 and had four goals in his first two games. Black Bear teammate Bobby Stewart also joined the team...

Fredericton came back from a 4-2 third period deficit to defeat Saint John 5-4 on Apr. 8. Scott King set up two goals for Francis Bouillon, then scored the game-winner for his fourth point of the night...

Brad Chartrand by Meredith Martini

St. John's put it to Saint John Apr. 9, sandblasting the Flames 9-1 on four points from Brad Chartrand and three points each from Lonny Bohonos and Mark Deyell...

Philadelphia clinched the Atlantic Division title with a 5-2 win over Hamilton, getting a pair of goals from Jason Zent and another game-winner from Chris Joseph...

If there's a way to blow a game, Hartford can usually find it. This time the 'pack held a 4-2 lead over Providence after 50 minutes but then gave up two goals in less than a minute and gave up the winner to Eric Nickulas with all of 33 seconds left in regulation...

Albany handled Syracuse 6-2 Apr. 10, with a pair of goals from Jeff Williams and Alexander Semaak as well as the continuation of John Madden's point streak...

Syracuse has given up 18 shorthanded goals, by far the worst mark in the league but still way off the record of 24...

Springfield's Sylvain Daigle waited this long but stopped 28 shots for his first shutout of the season, blanking Worcester 3-0 Apr. 10...

He needed all season and 11 games, but Craig Reichert finally scored against Hershey and it stood as the winner in the Ducks' 3-2 win Apr. 10, which kept the Ducks mathematically alive for overtaking the Bears...

The Rochester Americans picked up two goals each from Mike Harder and Dean Sylvester and handily took care of New Haven 6-3...

Craig Charron had three points and a lot of guys you never heard of got their first pro points as Lowell and Portland forged a 5-5 tie...

Lonny Bohonos was involved in all of St. John's goals as the Leafs defeated the Flames Apr. 10 by a 3-2 score...

Nothing like the last minute. Hershey's Serge Aubin scored the tying goal with three seconds left and the Bears went on to beat Hamilton 4-3 Apr. 10 on Paul Brousseau's goal in the final minute of OT...

For just the second time this season, Cincinnati was a winner over Kentucky. The Ducks pulled out a 6-4 win Apr. 10 on three point performances from Igor Nikulin and Rastislav Pavlikovsky...

Ryan Johnson by Meredith Martini

New Haven's Ryan Johnson provided all the offense and Mike Fountain provided all the defense as the Beast picked up a 2-1 victory over Springfield...

Rochester's Greg Walters hadn't scored since October and had been in the coach's doghouse, but he dedicated the Amerks' Apr. 10 game to his recently deceased dog Suzy and scored the tying goal in the 4-4 deadlock with Adirondack...

Tryout Marcus Gustafsson picked up a hat trick in just his second game as Syracuse picked up a rare win, 5-3 over Albany on Apr. 10...

Bryan Helmer had a night, with two goals and two assists from the blue line as Worcester managed a much-needed 6-3 win over Hartford...

Providence beat Portland 4-3 in overtime, but at least the Pirates got a point out of it for a change. Paxton Schaefer made a rare start for the Bruins...

Fredericton delivered a body blow to Lowell Apr. 11 with an 8-3 win. Martin Gendron had a hat trick plus two helpers, while Francis Bouillon had a four point night and Eric Houde three...

The baby Habs' win produced a three-way tie for first place in the Atlantic Division with Lowell and St. John's with a week remaining in the season...

Kentucky ensured Cincinnati would have last place in the Mid-Atlantic with a 4-2 win over the Ducks Apr. 11. Shawn Burr scored two, one shorthanded...

Chris Ferraro and Craig Millar had three points each as Hamilton knocked off Adirondack 6-3 Apr. 11...

Jeff Halpern scored his first pro goal for Portland but Providence's Andre Savage scored two and Providence went on to win Apr. 11 by a 4-3 score over the Pirates...

Domenic Pittis picked up two assists against Syracuse Apr. 11 to take over the AHL scoring lead. The Amerks, meanwhile, won 5-3...

Christian Dube and Kevin Brown had a pair each for Hartford in a 4-3 defeat of New Haven...

Alex Tanguay scored the first of many pro goals and Serge Aubin scored the other two as Hershey sat down the Phantoms by a 3-2 mark Apr. 11, evening the season series between the two teams...

Philadelphia won four of their first five games with Hershey. Hershey won four of the last five...

Derek Bekar set up two goals in 25 seconds in the waning minutes of Worcester's Apr. 11 tilt with Springfield to give the IceCats a 2-1 victory...

The new Montreal-affiliated team in Quebec City will be called the Quebec Citadelle - Citadel for non-francophones...

Albany and the New Jersey Devils extended their affiliation agreement through the 2001- 2002 season...

Providence leads the league in 20+ goal scorers with seven. Hartford follows, with six...

Rookie blueliner Chris Allen put together an eight game point streak for the Beast, all assists...

Providence set a team record for home wins with their 31st and Terry Virtue set a franchise record for assists from the blue line...

Kentucky goaltender John Nabokov and Sean Gauthier finished fifth and sixth in the GAA, respectively...

Richard Park has scored eight shorthanded goals to lead the AHL in that category...

Rochester has set franchise marks for points in a season (old record 101) and wins in a season (old record 48)...

When you're hot, you're hot. The currently scorching Serge Aubin needed merely 3:17 to record a natural hat trick against Adirondack, including the tying goal with 43 seconds left in regulation and the gamewinner 47 seconds into OT to give the Bears a 4-3 win Apr. 14...

Rochester tied an AHL record with their 25th road win, a 5-2 victory over Albany Apr. 14. The Amerks also clinched first place and Domenic Pittis had two points to reach the century mark...

Mark Smith by Meredith Martini

Kentucky's Matt Bradley and Mark Smith will appear in a feature program on ESPN2, currently scheduled to air Saturday, April 24, at 11:30 am...

In what may have been the last Battle of New Brunswick, Saint John defeated Fredericton 6-3 Apr. 15...

Syracuse picked up a rare victory with a 2-1 win over Hamilton Apr. 15. Matt Cooke scored both goals for the Crunch while Joaquin Gage got the win...

The Crunch have won three of their last 16 games. Cooke scored the gamewinner in all three wins...

Worcester took a 4-1 lead but Providence took it back and won 5-4 Apr. 16, largely on a four point night from Randy Robitaille...

Kentucky and Cincinnati had the same score that night, with Kentucky getting the win on three points from Shawn Burr and a late goal from Mike Craig...

Jimmy Waite missed a shutout by just two seconds, but Tavis Hansen did get a natural hat trick as Springfield took out the Beast 4-1 Apr. 16...

Francis Belanger scored what was the go-ahead goal and then got himself ejected from the game, but the Phantoms hung in for a 4-3 win over Hershey Apr. 16...

Domenic Pittis had two more points for the Amerks as they beat Albany for the second time in three nights, this time by a 3-1 score. John Madden scored to take his points streak to 15 games...

But Madden also broke his hand during the game on a controversial slash from Darren Van Oene. The Rats don't know when Madden will be available again...

Lowell liked callup Bret Meyers enough to bring him back when his ECHL season ended. Meyers liked Lowell enough to score a pair of goals in the Monsters' first win in nine games, a 3-2 win over Fredericton Apr. 16...

Blueliner Jason Doig had three points for the WolfPack as they took out the hapless Pirates 5-1 Apr. 16. JF Labbe nearly had a shutout...

Portland, for its part, had to yank starting goaltender Fredric Deschenes in favor of ECHL callup (and Meyers' ECHL teammate in Columbus) Harlin Hayes. The significance? Hayes became the 63rd player used by Portland this season, a new AHL record. That's three and a half teams worth of players gang...

Hamilton brought in a new goaltender, Eric Heffler, who stopped 48 of 50 St. John's shots as the Bulldogs beat the Leafs 5-2 Apr. 17. Chris Ferraro had three assists...

The Phantoms were down 3-1 but came back to defeat Albany 4-3 Apr. 17. Steve Brule had three points for the Rats...

Adirondack's Jason Elliott did the near impossible Apr. 17 - he shut out Providence. Elliott stopped 26 shots as the Wings took down the Bruins 2-0...

Hobey Baker runnerup Mike York scored two goals for Hartford Apr. 17 as they finished Portland's season, 4-2. Jeff Heil stopped 37 shots for his first win in the AHL...

Kentucky ended their season with a 6-4 win over Cincinnati, getting the game-winner from Mark Smith with 1:17 left in regulation...

The T-Blades' Dave Duerden had three points in that game, giving him a total of nine points against Cincinnati this season. He has eight points against the rest of the AHL...

Worcester eliminated New Haven with a 6-1 win Apr. 17. Tyson Nash and Derek Bekar had three points each, and Nash scored goals both on the power play and shorthanded...

Albany's Jeff Williams clinched his status as the AHL's top goalscorer this season with his 46th as the Rats knocked out archrival Adirondack 4-1 Apr. 18...

Saint John finished their season with a win when David Cooper scored the tying and game-winning goals in the third period of their 5-3 win over Lowell Apr. 18. Eric Landry and Ronald Petrovicky had three assists each...

Hartford won their fourth straight game on Derek Armstrong's OT goal with just seconds remaining in the game. The 4-3 loss was Providence's second in a row. Brad Smyth had three points for the 'Pack...

Tough guy Chad Cabana scored two goals for New Haven as they won 4-1 over Springfield Apr. 18, too little too late for the Beast...

Greg Walters, who scored one goal in his first 50 games, scored his fifth in six games as Rochester finished with a 4-2 win over Syracuse Apr. 18...

Domenic Pittis had two assists to bring his points total to 104, the best mark in the league. For this accomplishment, he gets zip. The AHL failed to recognize him for the All-Star game or any post-season awards...

Rochester as a whole walloped the AHL record for fewest goals allowed in a season, letting in just 176 goals in 80 games. The old record was 201. And lest I sound like a repeating record, a performance like that and only Biron gets post-season honors?...

The season from hell continues for Hershey's Mike Gaul. Gaul's mother suffered a second stroke last weekend while still recovering from the previous one. This one was more severe than the first and the Bears are not expecting Gaul to return until May at least, maybe not at all...

While Portland is unsure of much of next season, they have given the Blackhawks notice. The Pirates will be strictly Washington next year...

Chicago is expected to announce a partial affiliation with another AHL team by the end of May. Their Hampton Roads team won't be good to go until 2000, necessitating a contingency plan...

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